India

Fijian student reportedly bullied and beaten in Indian university

A senior student allegedly threw hot tea on the face of a first-year student from Fiji while several others beat him at the Banaras Hindu University in India on Sunday for failing to greet them with a “namaste” and refusing to address them as “Sir”.

Staff Writers

October 16, 2017 10:25 am

According to multiple media reports from India, police received a complaint against four unidentified students for assaulting Munish Krisneel Sami, a first-year student from Lautoka.

In his complaint, Munish said that a group of students stopped him at the art faculty and told him to address them with a “Sir”.

“I told them we are all equal as students and cannot call each other ‘Sir’. They thrashed me at that time,” Sami was quoted as saying in his complaint.

“Yesterday, a student took me mischievously to Maitri restaurant on the university campus where the same seniors were waiting for me. One of them threw hot tea on my face and the others thrashed me again.”

Sami, who doesn’t know the attackers’ names, first met an official of the University, who forwarded his complaint to police.

A teacher who heads the university’s “anti-bully” unit has also begun an inquiry.

“The victim (who stayed at a private hostel in Varanasi city) has been accommodated in an international hostel of the university for his security. We have recorded his statement and are trying to identify the culprits. Action must be taken against them under the anti-ragging act (which prescribes suspension or expulsion),”

A police source confirmed to Indian media that a complaint on assault, voluntarily causing hurt, and intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of the peace was lodged.

What do you think? Leave a comment below.

Newswire is a digital newsroom based in Suva, Fiji. We publish news stories via sms, email, mobile, social media and the web.